A Happy Home Menorah House is getting higher marks from the state year by year. JULIE EDGAR SENIOR WRITER udging by the decreasing number and nature of the citations recently brought against it by the state, Menorah House has trans- formed itself into a-model nurs- ing home. Less than two years ago, the 211-bed kosher facility in South- field was slammed in Consumer Reports as an example of a par- ticularly bad nursing facility. A reporter who had gone under- cover observed residents with open sores on their bodies; ex- posed electric wires in the build- ing and trash strewn everywhere. The latest state report, based on an inspection completed last month, cites the facility for 12 low-level violations, half of them for patient care issues and two for "quality of life" issues. The remainder dealt with environ- ment and dietary violations. Nursing homes are evaluated on their ability to fulfill 319 fed- eral regulations and another 200 or so state regulations. Menorah lill House was not cited for viola- tions of the state code. "It's much better than the last one and the one before that and the one before that," said Meno- rah House Administrator Den- nis Hayes, who came on board in late 1994. He attributed the improve- ments to staff development, a good rapport between adminis- tration and staff, more commu- nity outreach programs, good nursing, social work and dietary programs, and a lot of volunteer input. Nursing director Martha Det- tloff, who joined Menorah House a year ago, recently received the Nightingale, Award from Oak- land University in the category of long-term care. She is among a handful of metro area health- care professionals who were hon- ored in various categories. "Things take time," said Mr. Hayes. "We've tried to be stead- fast, we've tried not to be threat- ened by bad results we've had in the past. We're just happy every- thing's coming together nicely." Said Margot Parr, "I think the whole community must be very happy about this. Menorah House and the staff there real- ly deserve the credit." Ms. Parr is executive director of Jewish Home for Aged (JHA), which pro- vides cultural and religious pro- gramming for Menorah House and the area's only other kosher nursing facility, the Marvin and Betty Dante Family Health Care Center in West Bloomfield. Al- most 70 percent of Menorah House residents are Jewish. Ms. Parr, who oversaw the re- location of Prentis Manor resi- dents after the closure of that JHA nursing home in December, believes that Menorah House's outreach efforts have contributed to its well-being. She pointed to intergenerational programs in which students "adopt" residents with whom they regularly visit and to the Passover seder, for ex- ample, that brought in people from the outside. The Menorah House Advisory Committee, whose members include a repre- sentative of Jewish Family Ser- vice and various rabbis, develops activities for residents. "The facility was concentrat- ing so heavily on the physical en- vironment and quality of care, In the quality of care area, that's where all their attention was going. They now have the Menorah House was cited for vi- ability and time to focus on pro- olations that included improper gramming and Community ac- care of three residents' pressure sores, failure to refer a suicidal tivities," Ms. Parr said. Last week, Mr. Hayes and his patient to the staff social work- team were preparing a plan of er and to follow a therapeutic correction for the state that may diet for a patient with nutri- have included a challenge or two tional problems. to some of the find- ings. "We think the state was fair in its appraisal, although we don't agree 100 percent with the state," Mr. Hayes said, pointing to one citation that the home isn't provid- ing a safe place for residents' valuables. Menorah House has a patient trust ac- count for in-house bank accounts, he said. "We're not con- vinced the persons who may have al- leged this were en- tirely able to communicate the realities of the situ- ation. Maybe they misplaced some- thing and thought it was stolen." Martha Dettloff and Dennis Hayes of Menorah House. Detroit's Original Discounter STYLE LEVIN'S BEALTY SUPPLY New Arrivals for Spring: magazine 0.P.1 South Seas Polish Collection 12 NEW Essie Polish colors TAKES A STAND (actua(Ly about 400 of them) From fashion to home, STYLE keeps you up-to-date with the latest trends and hap- penings. And now, we've made it easier to keep up with STYLE. 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